Stormy Night
by stormyskyz
Summary: Disasters Series Part 1 - PC Andrea Dunbar and DI Neil Manson get closer during a thunderstorm.


**Stormy Night**

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Rating: PG-13, possibly verging on R towards the end. **

**Author: Storm Wolf**

**Archive: Anywhere that wants it, just let me know where.**

**Summary: Neil and Andrea get to know each other better during a Thunderstorm, and Andrea comes to terms with some horrors from the past. Very AU. Andrea/Neil.**

**Warnings: Slight spoilers to Aus and NZ viewers. Set early 2004 before they get together. Some mild sexual contact near the end but nothing explicit. A bit of a tear jerker here so keep those tissues handy.**

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It was late, sometime close to midnight. The wind howled and the rain lashed at the windows unrelenting. Loud claps of thunder punctured the quiet stillness of the air, and flashes of lightning brightened the pitch black sky.

The power had gone out a few hours ago, leaving them sitting in total darkness, huddled under a quilt for warmth.

"It's freezing," mumbles Andrea, cuddling closer to Neil, desperate to keep warm.

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Somehow after an obbo gone disastrously wrong, he ended up giving her a lift home. A few streets away from her flat, the thunderstorm struck, and for some unknown reason, Neil's car broke down. They ran to her flat, but still ended up dripping wet.

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Andrea, opens the door and goes straight to the kitchen to put the kettle on for a warm drink. She finds them both some dry clothes to change into and drapes there wet clothes over the radiator to dry.

They sit on the sofa in front of a roaring fire, listing to the sound of the storm and reflecting on the bad luck they had encountered that day.

Another bolt of lightning and the power goes off leaving them in total darkness.

"I knew I should have had a gas fire installed," comments Andrea breaking the silence.

She pulls the duvet out of the bedroom and wraps it around her to keep warm.

"What about me?" asks Neil, shivering in the cold air.

Andrea gets up from her seat and plops down beside him wrapping the blanket around them both. "I've only got this one," she explains.

They curl up under the blanket, waiting for the storm to pass. Hours roll by in complete silence, only broken by the roll of thunder and pounding rain.

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Sometime in the early hours of the morning they move to the bedroom and curl up on the bed in the hopes of getting at least a few hours sleep.

Sleep proves hard to come across and they lie in silence, just thinking.

Andrea runs a stray hand up Neil's chest and it comes to rest just above his heart.

Neil rolls over to face her, and their lips come into contact.

They break apart almost instantly, but continue to stare at each other.

Their lips meet again, and they remain this way for several minutes, neither willing to spoil the moment.

"We shouldn't be doing this," Andrea comments, not making any move to change things.

"No we shouldn't."

A loud clap of thunder jars them out of their hazy thoughts. A loud crashing sound is heard, making the building shake.

"What was that?" asks Andrea, jumping into Neil's lap in fright.

Neil walks over to the window and looks out at the pouring rain. "A tree has fell over down the street," he answers returning to her side.

Minutes pass in silence. The stillness of the air settling on the room like a warm blanket, protecting them from the raging storm outside.

"This is ridiculous," says Andrea standing up and pacing the room, too tired to sleep.

"Come back here and lie down," instructs Neil, holding the covers up for her to slip back into the bed.

She stops pacing and looks at him, hoping to see something in his expression to tell her what's he's thinking. She walks closer to the bed and drops down on it with a huge sigh. "I hate thunderstorms," she confides in him, "reminds me of how vulnerable we all are."

Neil, pulls her towards him, wrapping his arms around her protectively. She relaxes back onto his chest and falls into a light sleep. Safe and warm in his arms.

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In a field, somewhere in the middle of nowhere, a storm rages. A big, black vortex descends from the clouds, ripping up dust and debris. Fence panels from a nearby farm fly through the air, like missiles, embedding themselves deep in the few scattered trees.

A scream pierces the air, over the shrill sound of the tornado, as a large tree branch, collapses on the small form of a young girl.

The scene swirls into darkness, and then morphs into a dark, stormy day, somewhere in the hills of an unknown place.

A family is driving along a long stretch of road in the stormy weather. A little dark haired girl of about six years old and her parents are chatting happily as they travel. A tree branch crashes down onto the road, right in front of them. The driver swerves to avoid it, and ends up careening down the mountain side into a ditch.

The force of the impact throws the driver from his seat, and out into the air. He loses consciousness immediately after hitting the ground.

The scene morphs again, this time to a hospital room.

Lying on the bed is the young girl from the car. Sitting in the seat beside her, covered in scrapes and bruises is her mother, tears falling from her eyes.

"Where's daddy?" the little girl asks.

The mother cries harder, between her sobs she gets out, "he's gone to heaven baby."

"Daddy, no, daddy! I want daddy!"

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Andrea jerks awake and sits up, breathing heavily. Tears run silently down her cheeks, pooling on her hands. "Daddy, I miss you," she says quietly into the air.

Hearing the quiet voice, Neil wakes up, to find Andrea sobbing into his chest.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Bad dream," she answers him, trying to dry her tears.

"Wanna talk about it?" he asks.

"No, I'm ok."

A tense silence falls between them.

"My father was killed in a storm," she whispers.

Neil watches her expression worriedly waiting for her to continue, to get it all off her chest.

"We were driving through the Cambrian mountains, heading home after visiting my aunt and uncle at their house. It was late October. Not long after we'd started driving, a storm set in. We were in the middle of nowhere, practically so couldn't stop to take shelter. A bolt of lightning struck a tree, and it collapsed onto the road in front of us. We swerved to avoid it but the road wasn't wide enough. We ended up at the bottom of a ditch. The force of the impact killed my dad immediately. I woke up in a hospital bed, a few days later, with my mom by my bedside. I was only six years old."

She breaks down into sobs again, "I've been terrified of thunderstorms ever since," she cries.

Neil pulls her tightly into his arms, gently wiping the tears away from her eyes with his thumbs. Wiping away the pain and suffering.

"I had no idea," he says, gently kissing her forehead, then moving down her face to her eyes, nose and finally her lips.

She responds slowly, still revelling in the pain of past memories.

Hands start fumbling with clothing, while they continue to kiss with increasing passion.

Andrea opens up to him, letting his tongue further into her mouth to do battle with hers. While their tongues dance in their battle for control, their hands roam over each others bodies. Items of clothing fall to the floor, forgotten for the time being, their lust and passion taking over. Everything around them is forgotten as they sink into their own world. The thunderstorm continues to roar outside, as they give in to the feelings and tension that has surrounded them for the past few weeks and make love for the first time.

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Andrea wakes up to the sun shining brightly through the small gap in the curtains. Rolling over she feels a warm lump beside her. Turning onto her side she looks at the shape, instantly recognising it as Neil. Memories of the previous night slowly flood back to her.

She sits up, grabs her robe, and after wrapping it snugly around her heads for the shower.

Neil wakes up a few minutes later, and rolls onto the spot where Andrea was lying a few minutes earlier. He studies the room and realises he is not in his own room, in his own bed.

"Where am I?" he says quietly to the air.

The sound of the falling water of the shower brings back memories of the storm the previous night. Slowly all the pieces fit together and he starts to remember where he is and how he got there.

He gets out of the bed and pads silently into the bathroom, wrapping his arms around Andrea from behind.

She jumps in surprise and quickly spins round to face him.

They continue to shower in silence, and prepare for the day ahead.

The bright rays of sunshine after the fury of the storm bring a new sense of understanding and acceptance to the horrors of the past. Finally she is free of the nightmares of her father's death and she can face the future with the knowledge that their was nothing she could do to change the past and she can live on without regret.

The End.

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**Wow. That was intense. It hasn't turned out the way I originally thought it would but, it's not that big of a deal, is it? Please Read and Reveiw.**


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